Three key battles that could decide Luton Town v Nottingham Forest

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Nottingham Forest travel to Luton Town on Saturday for the first meeting between the two sides since 2008 when both were in League One.

The Hatters have been down as far as the National League since then but in recent years they have risen through the ranks at some pace.

The Reds will be looking to get back to winning ways at Kenilworth Road. Defeats to Wigan and Hull have seen Forest drop to 10th in the Championship and they will want to get back among the race for promotion.

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Luton are currently 19th and with one of the smaller budgets in the division that will be seen as about par for the course at this stage.

A trip to face Graeme Jones’ team on home soil is never an easy proposition and here at Seat Pitch we looked at three key battles which will decide Saturday’s contest.

Ben Watson v Izzy Brown

Defensive midfielder Watson has been like a new man under the management of Sabri Lamouchi. He has become a very big part of the way in which the French boss wants his team to play and recently he has captained the team.

Saturday will present him with a real challenge as he comes face to face with the lively Brown.

The Chelsea loanee has been in fine form for the Hatters scoring one goal and registering six assists in all competitions.

Brown has typically operated as a number 10 but does occasionally operate out wide. His pace could deal Forest with some problems and Watson will need all of his experience to thwart the danger.

Lewis Grabban v Sonny Bradley and Matty Pearson

The Forest hitman hasn’t hit the goal trail since a 3-2 win over Stoke when he scored what proved to be the decisive third goal.

He will be chomping at the bit to get back on the scoresheet at Kenilworth Road and he will face a central defensive pairing who have struggled for clean sheets this season.

Bradley and Pearson are uncompromising and Grabban will look to use all of his intelligence to get into the right areas to try and score a goal or two.

Forest need their frontman to be firing regularly and against a Luton side with one clean sheet all season. This would be the perfect occasion for him to get back to goalscoring ways.

Joe Lolley v Dan Potts

The Forest ace has come in for some criticism from some supporters of late and he will be keen to silence his critics this weekend.

Lamouchi has preferred him to play on the right this season allowing for him to cut in and it is fair to say Luton will still see him as a danger man.

Tasked with stopping him then will be Dan Potts. The 25-year-old left-back has played 10 games for the Hatters this season and has done pretty well.

The ex-West Ham man will hope to ensure another frustrating day for Lolley on Saturday. If he does keep Lolley quiet, Forest will hope for some joy from one of their other creative sparks.